A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money laundering case related to bank loan fraud.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted the relief to Puri on a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties of like amount.
Puri is likely to come out of jail since he is already on bail in the AgustaWestland case in which he was arrested earlier.
The court directed the accused not to leave the country without its prior permission and to join the probe as and when called for.
"He shall not try to influence the prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence in any manner," the court said.
It noted that the case was primarily based on the documentary evidence.
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"Multiple raids have been conducted by different investigating agencies at the residential as well as the official premises of the investigating agency.
"In fact, the entire record of the accused company is in the custody of the official liquidator. Thus, the apprehension of the probe agency that the applicant would tamper with the evidence appears to be far-fetched," the court said.
It noted that Puri had permanent abode in Delhi, wherein he was living with his family.
"He is stated to be the chairman of the Board of Directors of Hindustan Power Projects Ltd having the strength of about 21,000 employees.
"This indicates that the applicant has roots in the society and there is hardly any likelihood of his fleeing from justice," it said.
Advocate Vijay Agarwal, appearing for Puri, said that his client had resigned before the alleged period of offence.
"No case was made out against my client," he said.
The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta had opposed the bail application, saying "if released on bail, Puri may tamper with the evidence and influence the witnesses."
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